The Airport (A Nalu One-shot AU)
by Nightside14
Summary: (Another collab between Arisa and me from tumblr) Have you ever stumbled upon a once in a lifetime chance encounter? Would you seize the opportunity or ignore it? What if the moment slipped through your fingers like it did for Natsu Dragneel? Would you shrug it off and forget it, or chase after it?


**Hey guys! Hope you enjoy this one shot from Arisa and me! As always let us know what you think! :)**

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A person's life is made up of an infinite number of moments and clips. More often than not it's the unfortunately the bad ones that stick with you. Sometimes the good memories stay with you, if you're lucky you can hold onto those moments. One thing is for certain...It's not for us to know the meaning of the encounters we experience in our lives...to know where they will led us, what path they will have us take. We don't have the foresight for that kind of thing...to see clearly where we will end up. An encounter can be fleeting but inconsequential. Sometimes thought the most insignificant thing can be life altering, whether you know it or not. Like the moment you make eye contact with someone and your breath catches in your throat. Then the moment when you realize that you will never see him, or her, again.

Natsu experienced such a moment. Never did he think he would have that experience. He didn't believe in soulmates or in love at first sight. But if you asked him that now, he would deny it. The second he spotted her, the second their eyes made contact he had forgotten everything. Everything around him moved in slow motion until it seemed like time itself had stopped. Everything else had faded. The universe melted away leaving only the two of them. Him and her. Nothing but them existed.

They stood frozen as his onyx eyes burned into her big brown eyes as he stared at her intensely. Her long golden hair flowed down over shoulders and down her back. The silky hair seemed to flow perfectly with her every move as if it wasn't allowed to go awry. Her light skin looked as if it was the smoothest thing he'd ever touch. His eyes traced the lines of her of her seemingly fit figure which added to her beauty. Everything about her captured him, from her rosy cheeks and her soft, pink lips to the curves of her body. Her clothes seemed so perfect, so her, which was a funny thought considering he had never laid eyes on her until today.

"Last call for passengers to flight ZR48742." the voice came over the pa ripping him from his thoughts, tearing him away from the world that only the two of them had inhabited. "Please head to gate F7"

The announcement echoed in his mind but still he kept his eyes locked on her. That's when he noticed she looked a bit panicked and she tore her gaze from his, leaving a kind of emptiness in him. He chuckled softly at her flustered reaction, finding it kind of cute. He watched as she rushed toward the gate, turning back once to look behind her, to look at him still standing there in a daze. That was when reality struck him and he realized with growing panic that he would probably never see her again. His eyes widened and his heart began to pound in his chest at the thought. He cursed under his breath as he took off running after his blonde beauty in the direction she had gone. There was no way he was going to lose her. No way he was going to not see her again. Yeah it sounded cheesy and so unlike him, but something deep inside told him to not let her go. He couldn't let her disappear forever.

Natsu searched through the crowd for her, for any sign of where she might be. Finally, he caught a glimpse of her blonde hair and took off running. He tried to rush toward her but was stopped and asked for his ticket. He tried to explain he just needed to find someone but they wouldn't let him pass. He tried to call after to wait for him but to no avail. He growled in frustration as he realized she already disappeared into the tunnel leading to the plane. He looked at the monitor to see where the flight was headed. _Crocus_. He read in disappointment. Of course it had to be one of the largest cities. And of course it had to be in the opposite direction of where he was going. Natsu balled his fists and cursed to himself. He lived in Magnolia, a smaller, cozier city. Maybe she was on a trip or something. Really, she could live anywhere he had no way of knowing. If only he had gotten a glimpse of her passport or something...or better yet even have talked to her and found out her name at least. Now he had no leads. None except for Crocus anyway. He sighed heavily and trudged back to his gate to wait for his flight back home.

 **Five Years Later**

Natsu, now 24 years old, once again stood in the same airport, waiting for his flight. He had an undoubtedly long road ahead of him but he was determined. For five years his friends did their best to try and talk him out of this crazy venture, to keep him from going to the big metropolis in search for a girl that would most likely be impossible to find. To find one person among millions of people was definitely not going to be easy but he could take care of himself now. It didn't matter how long it was going to take he was going to find her. He couldn't forget about her all those years. He couldn't get her out of his mind, couldn't stop thinking about her. He was willing to risk it all to look for her. Even if she was married now or had a boyfriend he just had to see her at least one more time. He had to know she was okay, that she was happy. Then maybe that void that had been growing for the last five years would disappear. How dare she affect him like that. How dare she completely and utterly steal his heart and claim it as her own with just one look. The sleepless nights, the constant thoughts of her invading his mind and etching them into his brain. How dare she drive him crazy. How dare she...his thoughts stopped reeling in his mind. After five years he finally saw her again. He looked at her wide eyed from across the terminal, swallowing dryly as he stood frozen in place. His body wanting to move but it was as if someone had welded his feet to the ground. His heart pounded in his chest and he felt weak, like his insides had melted and he could no longer stay upright. It was his blonde beauty. The strangers walking by him looked at him oddly as he slapped himself making him hiss. No, he wasn't dreaming. He pinched himself to double check. She was still there. This was happening. This was real. She was really here.

She looked a bit taller and more mature, more curvy, her hair longer now reaching down to her waist and she had that same warm and caring look in her eyes. Her lips were pulled back in a big smile and he was glad that she seemed okay. Natsu wasn't one to believe in God but if someone was up there, in the heavens, then he would prostrate himself before said being and thank him for this one in a million second chance.A grin spread across his face and unlike last time he began to make his way toward her. He couldn't believe he had found her after all these years. It had to have been fate. He walked quickly toward her but then he suddenly stopped. His grin faded and his eyes widened at the sight of the child that was with her. A six or seven year old blonde girl held her hand. Of course this would happen. Someone as beautiful and pure as her. Why would she still be single? But maybe...just maybe...he started to slowly walk towards her again but stopped when he caught sight of a blond haired male with spiky hair walking up to them and picking up the girl in his arms. They looked like the perfect family, all smiling at each other. The fit, muscular blond guy with the beautiful blonde girl and their cute little daughter. The stabbing pain throbbed in his chest as his insides screamed at him. That should've been him. It could've been him. His mind burned with thoughts of what a family with her could've looked like. His heart pounded and his blood felt like fire in his veins that boiled him from the inside. He clenched his fists and grit his teeth. _It's been five years you idiot...what did you expect?_

He lowered his head, his gaze dropping and he looked like someone had told him his cat had just died. The despair and emptiness showed in his eyes, his shoulders slouched and his body went numb with defeated acceptance. His friends had been right. He had been wasting his time. Years and countless hours spent pining after her, thinking about her and imagining what it would be like to see her again. What it would be like to talk to her. Countless nights he's lay awake in bed for hours making up conversations between them. He'd spent a lifetime with her already yet he had never even said a word to her in real life. That somber reality struck him harder than anything ever had in his life. Who was he kidding? He should've known mere fantasies meant nothing. He should've known that made up conversations and hours spent thinking about someone would go nowhere.

Pink. Not too odd of a color given proper context and placement. A pink bicycle? Normal. A pink notebook or pen? Normal. Pick cell phone? Pink clothes? Sure. Pink hair on a male? Not normal. Yet that's what had caught her attention. A glimpse of pink hair is what she saw that made her turn her head. That's when she spotted the adult male sporting spiky pink hair. _Could it be?_ She thought to herself, releasing a soft gasp. What were the odds that again, in the same airport she would see a guy with pink spiky hair. She remembered that day as if it were yesterday.

A peculiar sight had caught her attention as she waited for her flight to Crocus. A pink haired guy just a few feet away from her had stopped and begun to stare at her. It had confused her and his color was definitely amusing. But when they locked eyes she had gotten lost in the intense stare of his onyx eyes. She was pulled in and mesmerized by the emerald tint they had. She wanted to walk toward him, to go and talk to him. Why? She didn't know but she felt like maybe she needed to. Before she could do that however, the announcement that her flight was boarding came over the pa. Now she had to hurry to get to her flight. She didn't have a choice she had to be on and couldn't forward to risk missing it. She took off toward her gate, looking back once at the pink haired boy who still had his eyes locked on her. Then she turned back and quickened her steps to her gate. Not long after, when she was entering the corridor to board her plane, she thought she had heard something. She sighed sadly. She could've at least given him her number real quick or something. For the next five years he invaded her thoughts, always wondering what became of the pink haired boy. He remembered exactly what he looked like even now. He was wearing green cargo pants with a white shirt, its sleeves coming ¾ of the way down his arms. A gray unbuttoned vest and white scarf completed the ensemble and she had to admit he looked rather handsome. The pink hair, though odd, seemed to suit him almost perfectly in a weird way. The vest and scarf, though not going in hand with just any ensemble, seemed to also look natural on him. The more she thought of him the more attractive she had found him.

"Excuse me for a sec okay?" She smiled up at the blond male who was with her.

Five years she had thought about him and now here he was again. What were the chances? She couldn't let this end like last time. She walked after her pink haired boy, who was very much a man now, his body seemingly even more fit than five years ago. She quickened her pace to try and catch up to him and finally got close enough to reach out.

"Uh excuse me?" Natsu heard the soft feminine voice come from behind him following a light tap on his shoulder.

Natsu turned and his eyes widened as he caught sight of her. The girl who he had fixated on for the last five years. The girl he had vowed to find and and never let go of again. She was standing before him. But why? There was no way she could remember him. So...why did she come up to him? Shouldn't she be…

"Uhm." her sweet voice snapped him back from his thoughts.

He really looked at her this time and her demeanor seemed to mirror that of an embarassed high school girl. Her gaze lowered to the floor between them and her cheeks were a slight pink color as she rubbed her hands nervously together. Natsu realized her nervousness and couldn't help but find it adorable. His soft chuckling grabbed her attention and she looked up at him with her chocolate eyes. Again he was thrown into...no that was wrong...he wasn't thrown, he was grabbed. He was pulled, no sucked into her beauty. He had no chance, no say. He merely was captivated by her angelic beauty, which made him think that there had to be a God if someone as beautiful as her existed. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, perfectly imperfect she was. Every little thing about her mesmerized him. How could she not make him smile? And smile he did, even if there was a trace of sadness behind it.

"Uh...I...Uhm...I…" she stuttered and the cuteness pained him. Natsu saw the blond man walk up with their child in his arms.

"Is something wrong Lucy?" he asked her. "Do you know this guy?" he now looked over at Natsu.

 _Great, now what?_ Lucy asked herself in sarcastically. Of course she took off after him without thinking. Her pink haired boy that had been etched into her memory for the last five years. Her first and last crush whom she had seen once five years ago and thought she would never see again. Natsu felt the awkwardness and tension building. Of course it was like this. She probably remembered the freak with the pink hair and absent mindedly went after him. Now she was stuck, not knowing what to say to her family. After all it wasn't like they were even acquaintances in the loosest of terms. The least he could do was save her from this.

"Sorry. " he said, his voice shaking her from her worried state. "You've probably got me confused for someone else." he said with an emotionless smile.

"Wai-n-no." she mumbled, panicking when she saw him take a step back. She couldn't lose him, not again, at least not without saying something this time. No matter what.

"Sorry, I gotta go. My flight is leaving soon." he said trying to be polite despite that fact that his flight was pointless now. The last five years...everything...it was all pointless now. "Have a nice day with your family." he said offering that hollow smile as he turned back around to walk away.

Lucy froze in horror. No. He couldn't be leaving. It couldn't end like this. But how else could it end? She had only been 18 when they first laid eyes on each other and now...It had been five full years. Of course he wouldn't remember her. _Quick Lucy...think of something._ She needed to stop him. She couldn't let him leave. She needed to-wait, did he say 'her family'?

"I'm not married!" she found herself shouting in annoyance without a second thought.

Natsu froze and dropped his bag. His eyes went wide as the words rang in his mind. What did she just say? Did he hear right? His heart thumped in his chest with urgency, with hope. A dam had been broken open and he felt a stinging in his eyes. He felt as if he were going to collapse right there and break down with tears of joy. What had she done to him? How cruel. To keep a hold over his being for five years, crush it and then offer this hope without even a second thought. He slowly turned back to face her trying to wash away all the emotions that seemed to flood forth at once. Her cheeks were puffed out and red and her stance made it clear that she was annoyed. Yet she seemed to soften slightly upon seeing his confused expression but only slightly.

"Uh, what?" he asked a small blush forming as her words full formed in his mind. "I thought...I mean I can see you're with…I assumed..." he dared to speak through his utter confusion.

"Are you crazy?! Who would marry their cousin?!" Lucy said angrily. "Plus...how the hell how could I have a five year old child? I'm only 23, I'm not that kind of girl!"

"She said a bad word." the young girl said looking at her father to Lucy's horror.

Natsu would've laughed if he hadn't been busy talking in and analyzing every single thing the blonde girl had just said to him. Of course. That made more sense. Hell, he'd take any explanation that involved her being single right now. She was right though. The math didn't add up. She would've had to have been pregnant when he first saw her all those years ago but she wasn't. He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly and mumbled an apology. Upon seeing his reaction her anger left her and was replaced with kind understanding. She found his confusion kind of cute and of course he assumed this was her family. They looked like one, until you really started paying attention to their ages.

"Uh, sorry." she said slightly embarrassed herself now. "This is Sting, my cousin." Natsu looked at him, a smirk on his face. "And this is his daughter. We're on our way to visit his wife Yukino who's been away working." she explained and Natsu nodded to her in understanding, trying to focus.

All he could focus on was the fact that she wasn't married. That Sting wasn't even her boyfriend. It was all he could do to not yell out triumphantly and offer her the biggest smile ever before pulling her into a tight bear hug. He looked at her and couldn't help but allow a small smile to form on his lips. She cleared her throat softly and held out her hand to him.

"And...I am Lucy..Lucy Heartfilia." she said looking up at him with her brown eyes. He walked up to her and took her hand in his.

"I'm Natsu. Natsu Dragneel." he said smiling as they looked into each other's eyes, both of them feeling a small jolt of electricity through them.

They stared into each other's eyes for what seemed like a lifetime. Natsu could swear he saw stars in her eyes the way they glittered. They were interrupted Sting clearing his throat, saying he would go and wait for her at the gate with his daughter. He winked at Lucy and told her not to take too long before leaving them. He left hand in hand with his little girl, a smirk on his lips. Lucy's face reddened and she wanted to protest, mumbling something that sounded like 'shut up'. Natsu chuckled to himself seeing her reaction, still enjoying the feel connection of their hands. He pulled her to him to get her attention and she squeaked in surprise, their chests bumping. He leaned forward, his mouth moving to her ear.

"So...I take it you're single Miss Heartfilia." he asked her lowly, sending shivers down her spine and her face get redder.

"I-I-" she mumbled.

Seeing her like this he had to gather all his will to not burst out laughing or tease her more. He pulled away, a smile on his lips. Lucy took a deep breath and then began to rummage through her purse looking for a pen and paper. She scribbled something on it quickly and then pushes towards his chest.

"Uhm...I have to go now...but...if you want…" she said looking at him, her face still flushed making her even prettier. "I..live in Magnolia...so yeah…"

"Magnolia?" he asked with surprise. The dumb irony not lost on him. "I live in the same town. How come I haven't seen you in the last five years?"

 _He remembered._ She thought to herself with a soft smile. "Well, back when we first...met...I was leaving for college in Crocus. I just came back to Magnolia this year."

"Oh." Natsu nodded. Seeing the clock on the screen she got a bit sad, realizing she had to go. "Anyway...you can call me. You know if you want." she said and he raised the paper in front of his eyes. "You don't have to." she added before turning and heading for her gate as he shoved the paper with her number on it in his pocket. Lucy was stopped by Natsu's hand on her wrist. He pulled her back around to him and brought his free hand to cup her chin. He leaned down and planted a soft kiss on the corner of her mouth.

"Will do." he whispered and Lucy's face was as red as a tomato and he let go of her wrist.

She bowed shyly and then turned making a beeline toward her gate. He chuckled at her behavior. Cute. He held up the piece of paper from his pocket with her number and looked at it. He remembered what his father told. _Once you find the one, never let her go._ He smiled at the memory. Natsu had lost her once before but he wasn't going to let her slip away this time. That was a promise. Well, looks like his trip to Crocus was cancelled. Time to go home and wait for his princess to arrive. After all what kind of dragon would he be if he didn't protect what was precious to him. He saved her number into his phone and sent her a quick text. He slipped his phone back into his pocket and went to go cancel his flight.

Lucy sat down in her seat next to the little girl. She reached into her purse for her phone and pulled it out to switch it onto flight mode. As the screen lit up she saw that she had a text from a new number. She smiled as she slid her finger across the screen, opening the text and reading it, making her smile widen.

"Who was that? Your boyfriend?" Sting smirked.

"N-No." she stuttered, her face getting redder. "But...I have a feeling that soon...he'll probably be someone more than that." she mumbles to herself with a soft smile as she read his message again. "Yeah, we'll be together soon."

 **The end**


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